SCHENECTADY — A knife blade was found in the tire of progressive incumbent Justin Chaires’ car on June 1 amid a heated Democratic primary battle to keep the City Council seat he was appointed to earlier this year.
A resident mentioned the incident during public comment at Monday’s City Council meeting. It was first reported by the Daily Gazette on Tuesday.
According to what Chaires told the Times Union on Wednesday, and what city police described as being in the report he filed about the incident on June 2, Chaires said he noticed his car jittering while driving on upper Union Street during the day on June 1. The councilman made it to the Walmart Auto Care Center in Glenville by pumping air into his tire at multiple Stewart’s Shops stores along the way. A mechanic told him that a broken-off blade was inside the rear tire and recommended contacting police, which he did the next day…